Improvement in treating bituminous substances for pavements



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

t AMES OFRIEL, OF BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN TREATING BITUMINOUS SUBSTANCES FOR PAVEMENTS, dc.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 106,717, dated August23, 1870.

I, J AM'ES OFRIEL, of Brooklyn, Kings county, and State of New York,have invented a new and Improved Preparation of Vulcanized Bitumen, tobe used in connection with other substances in the construction ofroadways, sidewalks, and roofing for houses, of which the following is aspecification:

My invention relates to that class of devices employed for giving toroad and foot ways an even, elastic, and hard surface, for the purposeof making travel easy and pleasant, known as asphaltum, and containingcoal and pinetar and resin, none of which, however, 1 cmploy in mycombination of matter, the nature of which consists in preparing acomposition of a bituminous substance, sand or gravel, black oxide ofmanganese or sulphur, and sulphate of lime, and subjecting it to theaction of superheated steam, substantially as hereinafter specified,which, on being properly treated, compounded, and laid over the surfaceof a prepared road, forms a monolithic stone that will not soften underthe hottest tropical sun, nor will ice form on it in winter, while itproduces an elastic, easy, and permanent roadway; and it also consistsin preparin g the road or foot way with a solid foundation and withlayers of material which act as an elastic cushion between the solidfoundation and the vulcanized bituminous surface, as I will furtherexplain by an exposition of the ingredients and their treatment and theconstruction of the roadway, viz:

Of the ingredients I use about the following proportions: first, ninehundred and twentyeight cubic inches of the residue of a distillationmade from coal or gas tar, or directly from bituminous coal, whichresidue is a resinous mass or bituminous cement; second, two thousandnine hundred and sixty cubic inches of silex or gravel; third, onehundred and eight cubic inches of sulphur or black oxide of manganese;fourth, three hundred and twenty-four cubic inches of sulphate of lime.These ingredients I pulverize into a fine powder, and mix together in adry unheated state until thoroughly amalgamated. I next place theingredients in a close iron vessel, through which steam-pipes pass,provided with a mixer and incloscd in a steam-jacket, and I admitsuperheated steam of 300 Fahrenheit through the steam-pipes, which passthrough the vessel containing the combination and into the steam-jacket,and I set the mixer in action by steam or other power, agitating themass within the vessel.

\Vhile this vulcanite of bitumen is being prepared I lay the foundationof the road, which maybe composed of loose cobble-stone, rammed down, ora cobble-stone pavement already laid, with the joints raked out. On thisfoundation I lay a stratum composed in about the proportion of threehundred and forty-eight cubic inches of a material known as elasticcement (a distillation) to two thousand five hundred and ninety-twocubic inches of fine gravel, sand, or earth, said elastic cement andsand or earth being mixed together and heated, so as to form a mass.This compound I spread evenly on the foundation, grading with heatedrakes and rolling with heated rollers until a smooth surface is attained. This stratum forms what I term a cushion, and is intended tomake the roadway semi-elastic.

Next I place on the elastic cushion a calcareous stratum, composed ofabout eighteen pounds of sulphate of lime to one and one-half cubic footof gravel or sand, with water enough to mix the particles together, andI grade the same evenly with rakes and rollers until the water is takenup by the atmosphere, when a hard even surface will remain.

Finally, I take from the steam-mixing vessel the mixed mass or vulcaniteof bitumen in a hot state, and spread the same over the now preparedroad, grade the same with heated iron rakes to about the thickness ofthree inches, and I roll the same with heated rollers until the surfacebecomes vulcanized, and which, with the two other strata, will make asolid mass about seven inches in thickness, and ready for travel over itwithin one hour after the last or vulcanized bituminous stratum has beenlaid.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. The composition of a bituminous substance with sand or gravel, blackoxide of manganese or sulphur, and sulphate of lime,

when subjected to superheated steam, so as to produce the vulcanizedbitumen, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

2. In combination with the vulcanized bitumen, as above specified, theelastic stratum or layer composed of elastic cement, as described, andgravel, sand, or earth, for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the vulcanized bitu men and elastic stratum, asabove specified,

the stratum or layer composed of sulphate of lime and gravel or sand,substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 27th day ofJune, 1870.

JAMES OFRIEL.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR NEILL, EMILE MoL'rz.

